World famous Iranian carpet and textile design and its influence on European design during the 19th century was the subject of a recent international conference in London. The two-day Patterns of Perfection conference was organised by the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, one of the world’s most prominent museums of art and design. It brought together some of the leading experts and scholars on the textile and carpet design of that period. They were to explore the origins of Persian patterns and highlight their strong impact on European and British design.


Jennifer Wearden, an honorary research fellow at the museum and an organiser of the project says that the design of Persian carpets changed gradually during the Safavid and Qajar periods and heavily influenced British designs. But in the 19th century in Western Europe and Britain, textile production became industrialised and the art of weaving and of handmade textiles and embroidery was almost lost. That is probably why the Victoria & Albert Museum decided to collect and showcase some of the finest examples of these pieces.


In this multimedia report Wearden explains the background to the project and how Persian textile patterns continue to influence western design and products to this day.

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